This invention relates to a harness for supporting annular disk weights on the torso of a bodybuilder to exercise certain muscles while still leaving the bodybuilder's hands free. In particular, it relates to a harness for supporting the weights by means that protect the bodybuilder's torso from injurious contact with them.
Back pack assemblies have been used to allow swimmers and people responding to emergencies to carry tanks of oxygen while still leaving their hands free, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,033,431 to Henderson et al.; 3,174,664 to Hue; 3,957,183 to Gadberry; and 4,327,851. In each case, the assemblies were made to hold cylindrical tanks, not the flat, annular disk weights used by athletes and bodybuilders to build strength and better musculature. Other devices to allow a person to carry or tow an object of some weight while still leaving that person's hands free are similar to the aforementioned tank-carrying devices and are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,114,486 to Flexman; 4,382,302 to Watson; and 4,431,121 to Bensette. The objects carried or towed are also fundamentally different from the annular disk weights.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,089 to Nystrom shows an arrangement of straps attached to a plate on which there is a U-shaped structure for holding binoculars in a convenient position on the chest of the user. Mahr shows a desire in U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,502 for supporting weights on a U-shaped torso base member suspended from straps that cross from one side of the base member to the other behind the wearer's back. A pin removably attached to the center of the base member supports the weights, which extend above the base member. U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,219 to Vogler shows a neck exercising helmet that has a plate attached across the top of it to support a post on which disk weights can be placed, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,247 to Gerstung shows a padded plate strapped to a gymnast's back and provided with a rod extending well past the gymnast's head to serve as a support for balancing weights that allow the gymnast's center of gravity to be approximately in line with the gymnast's extended arms.